What Makes The American Dream
Rylie Jouett
Ms. Gerard
5 May 2015
Final Draft
Little Miss-ed Sunshine
James Truslow Adams is credited for originating the term the “American Dream” in the early years of the Great Depression, but the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice it takes to accomplish the American Dream has been around since the early days of this nation’s history. The American Dream refers to “the belief that anyone, regardless of what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone” (“American Dream”). It is precisely that upward mobility and success that the Hoover family is chasing in Little Miss Sunshine. Each member of the Hoover family is chasing their own disillusioned version …show more content…
Olive Hoover’s dream is to become a beauty queen; however, she is a slightly overweight, awkward young girl who wears geeky glasses and dresses like she fell straight out of the eighties. Olive is desperate for people to see her as beautiful, asking her grandpa, “Grandpa, am I pretty?” only to not be able to accept his answer that she “is the most beautiful girl in the world.” She seeks to be a classic American beauty but does not even see herself as that ideal. In this way, it is her strive for achievement that actually highlights her failure. Her dedication to performing in beauty contests helps her to both brings out and mask her inadequacies in many ways. Olive’s older half-brother, Dwayne, also seeks his own achievement in the form of a dream to be an Air Force pilot. Part of this dream is to achieve the success of being a proud Air Force pilot, but part of the dream is for him to simply get as far away from his family as he can. This dream is smashed as Frank realizes that Dwayne is colorblind and informs him, “You can’t fly jets if you’re colorblind.” He, like Olive, now sees himself as less than what it takes to achieve his American …show more content…
He is the most rational of all of the characters – a university scholar whose dream is to be the number one Proust Scholar in America – yet, he has allowed the pain of a failed relationship with a student lead him to a deep depression and an attempted suicide. In this way, he represents both the logical and the illogical in the film. Frank seems to be in his own version of a happy place when he is left to linger in his own misery. He tells Dwayne about Marcel Proust who was a French writer who found that the worst years of his life, when he was truly suffering, “were the best years of his life, ‘cause they made him who he was.” He tells him that Proust realized that the years that he was happy were a waste. This idea is the antithesis of the American Dream to have success and
Ms. Gerard
5 May 2015
Final Draft
Little Miss-ed Sunshine
James Truslow Adams is credited for originating the term the “American Dream” in the early years of the Great Depression, but the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice it takes to accomplish the American Dream has been around since the early days of this nation’s history. The American Dream refers to “the belief that anyone, regardless of what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone” (“American Dream”). It is precisely that upward mobility and success that the Hoover family is chasing in Little Miss Sunshine. Each member of the Hoover family is chasing their own disillusioned version …show more content…
Olive Hoover’s dream is to become a beauty queen; however, she is a slightly overweight, awkward young girl who wears geeky glasses and dresses like she fell straight out of the eighties. Olive is desperate for people to see her as beautiful, asking her grandpa, “Grandpa, am I pretty?” only to not be able to accept his answer that she “is the most beautiful girl in the world.” She seeks to be a classic American beauty but does not even see herself as that ideal. In this way, it is her strive for achievement that actually highlights her failure. Her dedication to performing in beauty contests helps her to both brings out and mask her inadequacies in many ways. Olive’s older half-brother, Dwayne, also seeks his own achievement in the form of a dream to be an Air Force pilot. Part of this dream is to achieve the success of being a proud Air Force pilot, but part of the dream is for him to simply get as far away from his family as he can. This dream is smashed as Frank realizes that Dwayne is colorblind and informs him, “You can’t fly jets if you’re colorblind.” He, like Olive, now sees himself as less than what it takes to achieve his American …show more content…
He is the most rational of all of the characters – a university scholar whose dream is to be the number one Proust Scholar in America – yet, he has allowed the pain of a failed relationship with a student lead him to a deep depression and an attempted suicide. In this way, he represents both the logical and the illogical in the film. Frank seems to be in his own version of a happy place when he is left to linger in his own misery. He tells Dwayne about Marcel Proust who was a French writer who found that the worst years of his life, when he was truly suffering, “were the best years of his life, ‘cause they made him who he was.” He tells him that Proust realized that the years that he was happy were a waste. This idea is the antithesis of the American Dream to have success and